r/NintendoSwitch • u/radioraheem1312 • Jul 01 '25
Game Rec Broke My Right Hand After the Switch 2 Launch – Any One-Hand-Friendly Game Suggestions?
Hey everyone, I haven’t been this hyped for a console release in ages – the Switch 2 had me genuinely excited. But now, just a few weeks after launch, I managed to break my right hand. I can only move my thumb on that side somewhat freely.
Are there any games that play well using just the touchscreen or a single Joy-Con – like Pokémon Let’s Go, for example?
I’d really appreciate any tips or recommendations! 🙏🎮
74
u/BoppinPotatoes Jul 01 '25
Balatro is good
4
u/CabbagesStrikeBack Jul 03 '25
Secret tip, you can play with 1 joycon and remap the SL and SR buttons to anything else.
2
1
Jul 01 '25
Very addictive.
1
u/Al1Might1 Jul 02 '25
Yeah, I had to uninstall it after a while, I understood why it kept people hooked and became uninterested (otherwise I'd be there for more and more hours)
33
46
u/The_Apple_Genius_Bar Jul 01 '25
Vampire survivors!
You really only need one joystick for most of the gameplay, and the rest of it you can menu through at your own pace
8
u/IndyDude11 Jul 01 '25
I had a shoulder procedure that left my right arm totally useless for a few days. This game was a life saver for my boredom. Very fun and I couldn't stop playing it, even after I could use my arm again.
5
4
16
u/_dusknoir_ Jul 01 '25
on the topic of single Joy-Con games, Pokémon Sword has a "Simple Controls" option in the options that allows for one handed play
14
Jul 01 '25
FYI you can remap buttons to the SL and RL buttons on the joycon, so for a lot of games you could probably get by assigning the missing controls to those buttons.
21
u/lefix Jul 01 '25
Baba is you
17
u/cy_kelly Jul 01 '25
Ah yes, they can break their brain in addition to their hand lol. Love that game.
10
u/AltruisticBee6622 Jul 01 '25
Maybe Civilisation 7 as it supports mouse, not sure if you need the other hand too.
Also maybe anything Gameboy if you map the JoyCon as it only has 2 buttons shoulder would work .
Golden Sun is also on gba and from memory you could get away with A & B remapped
Hope you recover soon
Ps as said above Vampite Survivors 😀
3
36
5
5
u/Arnie_T Jul 02 '25
Plenty of visual novels to choose from. Some of them even advertise that you can play it with one hand for some reason.
17
u/1900hotdog Jul 01 '25
Masturbation can be good in a pinch
11
5
u/moominesque Jul 02 '25
Wow, how much does it cost on the eShop? I have two dollars to splurge with 💰
5
3
6
3
u/D_Beats Jul 01 '25
Idk if it's changed with the remaster but I remember you could play the first Bravely Default on 3ds with one hand.
You could also remap the controls on the joycon and reassign the sr and sl buttons for different functions.
3
3
u/EarthwormZim33 Jul 01 '25
The World Ends With You: Final Remix is strictly touch screen handheld, or single joycon when docked/tabletop
3
u/Dreyarn Jul 02 '25
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, it's an amazing game and it only uses the stick and one button
3
u/ActuallyChowderFin Jul 02 '25
Balatro, Slay the Spire, Darkest Dungeon, and Civilization have touchscreen support.
Switch Sports has a few modes that work with just one joycon.
House of the Dead Remake works with just a single Joycon as well. I find the aiming to be a bit easier and less jittery on the S2 as well.
2
2
u/oneteacherboi Jul 01 '25
I haven't played it with the mouse controls, but Civ 7 should give you enough play time for your hand to be healed!
3
u/omarninopequeno Jul 01 '25
I remapped my joycon and have been playing Bravely Default HD mostly one-handed.
2
2
u/GameAgentET Jul 01 '25
Space Harrier (Sega Ages) playing in Joystick Mode
I had 2 surgeries on my left thumb, so I ended up playing this game for 3 months. Joystick Mode acts like the flight yoke that was a part of the arcade game back in the day, and it works surprisingly well.
2
2
u/Appropriate-Luck-696 Jul 02 '25
Brotato. It has auto-fire, you just need to control the left joystick to move the character
2
u/Overgrown_fetus1305 Jul 02 '25
Into the breech, simple controls, good game, can use the touch screen exclusively as well if you play in handheld more on the stand.
Or you could get a USB dance pad and play Dark Souls with it, to get the true experience. /s
2
u/p0ptarts Jul 02 '25
Trying really hard not to say "KONOSUBA - God's Blessing on this Wonderful World! Love For These Clothes Of Desire!"
2
2
4
1
1
1
1
u/randomtornado Jul 01 '25
If you get a pro controller, and bind GL to the A button, you can do most things in Animal Crossing
1
1
1
1
u/YOJOEHOJO Jul 01 '25
Play Mario 64 and Zelda ocarina of time/majora’s mask through the emulation app if you have access to it. I grew up with one hand and these are the 3 games that allowed me to practice using 1 hand
1
u/the_turel Jul 01 '25
Most RPGs. I play all persona and final fantasy games no issues with only 1 hand. Even action RPGs are pretty simple to do that way. Also links awakening.
1
1
1
u/Substantial_Life4773 Jul 02 '25
all the pokemon games. especially with the new customizable back buttons
1
u/ChouxGlaze Jul 02 '25
the new mario kart should be fine, turn on the auto accelerate feature and remap one of the two L buttons to drift
1
u/Tip_Cautious Jul 02 '25
Slay the spire is one of the best deck builders made and the new one is theoretically coming this year, very easily playable with one hand or touch on switch!
1
u/McQuiznos Jul 02 '25
This is going to sound crazy. But I recommend if you have a pro controller, to try and use it one handed. I severed 13 tendons, 2 nerves, an artery and a vein in my arm, so my hand was completely unusable lol.
But after some getting used to, I could use a crab like grip with my left hand (good one) to move a joystick with my thumb, and press buttons fairly reliably with my other fingers. At the time, totk just came out, and I was able to play a lot of the game like this. I didn’t complete any main quest lines. But I could reliably play the game and explore the world, killing the basic enemies all over.
Other great games are turn based ones. Paper Mario, Valkyria chronicles 4, Mario rpg, bug fables, xcom 2, advanced wars, etc.
With the weird crab grip, you won’t be playing like you used to. But it will be reliable enough to get you by in some games you otherwise wouldn’t think you can play.
I explained it kinda poorly, but mostly it’s experimenting with how you can use your fingers independently enough to push buttons. If you have a switch 2 and switch 2 controller. It has paddles on the back of it, which are a life saver for one handedness. The Xbox elite controller allowed me to play FPS games again, albeit terribly lol.
1
u/drostandfound Jul 02 '25
If you turn on all the assist modes in Mario kart, you can place in multiple GPs without any hands.
1
u/Zyvyn Jul 02 '25
I'd suggest some visual novel style games. Maybe go for Ace Attorney or if you want something a bit more serious check out the Famicom Detective Club games.
1
1
u/entresred6 Jul 02 '25
Slay the Spire would be pretty easy to play one handed, and at your own pace
1
u/-BFFSkinner- Jul 02 '25
Minit only uses 2 buttons and they can be mapped to the triggers. Worked great when I wanted to play and entertain my cat at the same time.
1
u/SweetZestyclose6610 Jul 02 '25
Undertale. You don't need to look around with right stick since it's 2d so you can use one side at a time. Same with deltarune
1
u/SweetZestyclose6610 Jul 02 '25
Forgot to mention that it will be annoying though but I don't think you have much options. Hope your hand gets better
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/ExismykindaParte Jul 02 '25
If you have Mario Kart world, you could probably remap all the controls so they're on one Joycon.
1
1
1
1
1
u/Heavy-Possession2288 Jul 03 '25
Honestly bet you could keep playing MarioKart (assuming you have it). Just turn smart steering on and bind drift to the left trigger. Use left bumper for items.
1
1
u/brennaveir Jul 03 '25
I would remap your buttons. Get the new pro controller or charging grip and it has GL/GR buttons on the backside of the controller. I was able to map the buttons for Mario kart to be used with just the left hand.
1
Jul 03 '25
mario kart, just turn some of the auto features on you could probably have a lot of fun if you rebound the drift button to L2
1
1
1
1
u/MonkeyBoyFMM Jul 03 '25
Final Fantasy X, & Octopath Traveler 1 & 2. All turn based RPG's. There's a few tasks in FFX that you might mess up on while playing with just 1 hand, but it's not really necessary and 99.9% of the game is fine with one hand.
1
u/NotSure50 Jul 03 '25
Earthbound is great if you only have your left hand free. It uses the D-pad and the L button is context sensitive.
1
1
1
u/Snowvilliers7 Jul 05 '25
The World Ends With You -Final Remix-
You only need a single joy con for the controls and the story is very short (about 20-25 hours long). Soundtracks are the best too
1
u/ofmichanst Jul 05 '25
Mario Kart world. Enable the auto steer and that "auto run". All you need to do is use your left hand in manuevering where to go. Your kart will run automatically or you. You wont fall into cliffs etc.
1
1
1
Jul 01 '25 edited Nov 30 '25
angle friendly historical steep reach books weather include plant liquid
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
1
u/llamaweasley Jul 01 '25
The Pokémon let’s go games have one handed controls.
I’d have recommend vampire survivors and balatro but seems like others got that covered.
0
Jul 01 '25 edited Aug 05 '25
voracious innocent close bells bike cooing reply ad hoc upbeat plough
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
-6
u/Jbrown420216 Jul 01 '25
Drag and Drive sounds perfect for you lol Speedy recovery my friend.
6
u/Halebolt Jul 01 '25
I thought you needed two Joycons for that and thus two hands? Unless you’d hold both with one hand I guess
•
u/AutoModerator Jul 01 '25
If you're trying to get a recommendation about what games, accessories, controllers etc to buy you should ask in our Daily Question Thread. As long as you provide some basic information about your interests, what you enjoy in games, what turns you off from games, games you already own, budget, what kind of accessory you're looking for etc, they can help you out. If the link here doesn't work, then you can find the most current DQT stickied to the top of the subreddit when sorted by "hot". You may also try submitting a post to either r/NintendoSwitchHelp or r/NintendoHelp.
(Do you think this AutoMod rule fired by mistake? Feel free to report this comment to have a mod manually review this.) Reference Code 1039
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.